2011 NBA Draft Combine Participants Announced: What Can We Learn at the Combine?

The 2011 NBA Draft Combine takes place in Chicago from May 18-22. Yesterday, we learned exactly who will be there.

The combine consists of an NBA physical that all 30 teams have access to, light on-court drills and various tests and measurements that give executives clues on a player's athleticism.

On top of all that, teams have the opportunity to interview any attending prospects.

Many people think this year's draft class may be fairly weak, but sports experts are generally wrong more often than they're right.

You never know when and where a diamond in the rough will come from.

Some potential stars in this year's class include Jimmer Fredette, Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams.

We should be able to learn a lot about each of those prospects (and every other one attending).

For example, much of the criticism Jimmer Fredette has faced has to do with his athleticism. BYU coaches have said he has a 36-inch vertical, but most people are waiting for an official measurement at the combine.

By the time the combine is over, the lottery will have passed and the final draft order will be pretty clear.  

Check here up until the draft for news and updates.

Without further ado, here are the guys who made the cut:

Keith Benson, Oakland 
Marshon Brooks, Providence 
Alec Burks, Colorado 
Jimmy Butler, Marquette 
Norris Cole, Cleveland State 
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State 
Jimmer Fredette, Brigham Young 
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston 
Jordan Hamilton, Texas 
Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame 
Justin Harper, Richmond 
Tobias Harris, Tennessee 
Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA 
Scotty Hopson, Tennessee 
Kyrie Irving, Duke 
Reggie Jackson, Boston College 
Rick Jackson, Syracuse 
Charles Jenkins, Hofstra 
JaJuan Johnson, Purdue 
Cory Joseph, Texas 
Enes Kanter, Kentucky 
Brandon Knight, Kentucky 
Malcolm Lee, UCLA 
Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State 
Travis Leslie, Georgia 
Jon Leuer, Wisconsin 
DeAndre Liggins, Kentucky 
David Lighty, Ohio State 
Shelvin Mack, Butler 
Demetri McCamey, Illinois 
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue 
Darius Morris, Michigan 
Marcus Morris, Kansas 
Markieff Morris, Kansas 
Lucas Riva Nogueira, Estudiantes II (Spain) 
Chandler Parsons, Florida 
Jereme Richmond, Illinois 
Josh Selby, Kansas 
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech 
Kyle Singler, Duke 
Chris Singleton, Florida State 
Jamie Skeen, Virginia Commonwealth 
Greg Smith, Fresno State 
Nolan Smith, Duke 
Isaiah Thomas, Washington 
Malcolm Thomas, San Diego State 
Trey Thompkins, Georgia 
Klay Thompson, Washington State 
Tristan Thompson, Texas 
Jeremy Tyler, San Diego HS/Maccabi Haifa (Israel)/Tokyo Apache (Japan) 
Nikola Vucevic, Southern California 
Kemba Walker, Connecticut 
Derrick Williams, Arizona 
Jordan Williams, Maryland

Notable American Prospects Who Didn't Make the Cut

Justin Holiday, Washington
Gilbert Brown, Pittsburgh
Jamine Peterson, New Mexico (D-League) 
Damian Saunders, Duquesne 
Josh Harrellson, Kentucky
Jon Diebler, Ohio State 
Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh 
Vernon Macklin, Florida
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Washington
Willie Reed, St. Louis
Gary Flowers, Southern Miss
Jacob Pullen, Kansas State
Chris Wright, Dayton
Lacedarius Dunn, Baylor
Gary McGhee, Pittsburgh

Notable International Prospects Who Won't Be Attending

Jonas Valanciunis, Lithuania
Jan Vesely, Serbia
Bismack Biyombo, Spain
Donatas Motiejunas, Italy
Nikola Mirotic, Spain
Davis Bertans, Slovenia
Bojan Bogdanovic, Croatia
Michael Dunigan, Estonia
Xavi Rabaseda, Spain
Giorgi Shermadini, Slovenia

Check this out too: Latest 2011 NBA Mock Draft

Stay tuned for more info, updates and opinions on the draft and be sure to follow me on Twitter @_Andy_Bailey